CE260002

University of Kentucky facilities and equipment for construction of biomedical research facility - The University of Kentucky seeks HRSA support to equip the Healthy Kentucky Research Building 2 (HKRB 2), a transformative biomedical research facility that will address the chronic diseases and health conditions that impose the greatest health and economic burden on Kentuckians.

Kentucky continues to rank among the least healthy states in the nation, with disproportionately high rates of multiple chronic conditions, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obesity, cancer, and infectious diseases such as Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) and HIV, which are compounded by persistent challenges related to maternal and infant mortality, rural health care access, and substance use disorder.

These burdens are magnified in rural and Appalachian communities, where chronic diseases frequently co-occur and access to specialty care and advanced health resources is limited.

HKRB 2 will be a 340,000-gross-square-foot, seven-floor facility, including a basement level that will house core facilities and connect directly to HKRB 1, creating an integrated research environment that expands access to shared infrastructure and accelerates collaboration.

Scheduled to begin construction in 2027, HKRB 2 will expand laboratory and research support capacity for biomedical, engineering, computational, clinical, translational, and community-engaged research.

The facility will enable the University of Kentucky to mobilize its strongest investigators around the health conditions most relevant to the Commonwealth and catalyze the discovery and development of novel therapeutics, interventions, diagnostics, and technologies that can move efficiently from laboratory discovery to clinical and community benefit.

This request is tightly aligned with HRSA’s CPF/CDS priorities by making a targeted, durable investment in physical infrastructure and equipment that will strengthen the state’s capacity to generate solutions for communities with significant unmet health needs.

HRSA support will provide the essential fixed and movable equipment required to activate wet bench laboratories, procedure rooms, research support spaces, an advanced fabrication and assembly suite supported by cleanroom infrastructure for environmentally sensitive materials, and a one-megawatt AI data center capable of meeting the computational demands of modern biomedical research.

These investments will ensure that HKRB 2 is not simply a new building, but a fully equipped platform for high-impact, team-based discovery focused on diseases that affect Kentucky families, rural communities, and medically underserved populations.

Specifically, the award will support:

1) Laboratory neighborhoods on floors 1 and 2 with casework, chemical fume hoods, built-in sterilizers, and undercounter glass washers;

2) Cleanroom infrastructure for the fabrication and assembly suite, including air handling units and associated components, ductwork, chilled water, heating, humidification, operations, and monitoring systems; and

3) An AI data center equipped with environmental controls for heat recovery, cooling, air conditioning, fire suppression, uninterruptible power supply, and communication infrastructure.

These investments will strengthen HKRB 2 as a statewide engine for discovery, innovation, workforce development, and translational research by supporting the core facilities, laboratory infrastructure, fabrication capacity, and computational resources needed to address Kentucky’s most pressing health challenges.

The benefits will extend beyond the investigators housed in the facility by enabling new diagnostics, therapies, technologies, and evidence-based interventions that can improve health outcomes across Kentucky.

HRSA support for HKRB 2 represents a strategic infrastructure investment with long-term public-health return for a state facing persistent and preventable chronic disease burdens.

University Of Kentucky Research Foundation

NOT APPLICABLE

93.493 - Congressional Directives

HRSA Office of Federal Assistance Management (OFAM) [HHS - HRSA]

Kentucky United States

State-Wide

HRSA-26-200